Back To The Past

Part Five: Timeless Enemies

Biff stumbled as his vision blurred, nearly toppling to the sidewalk, but he managed to catch himself on a street sign. He was sweating like mad, struggling for each breath, and knew that it was all Doc Brown's fault. He had to find help, now before it was too late, and he was determined to do so.

Gathering himself up, Biff let go of the street sign and took a step forward, his legs immediately going weak. Blackness overwhelming his senses, Biff dropped to the sidewalk with a thud, just as a police cruiser rounded the street corner.

Awareness wavered for Biff, brief flashes of images and snippets of sound the only sensory input pummeling through his fever. The world seemed bathed in alternating hues of red and blue, and he thought that someone was talking to him, though he couldn't swear to that.

"He's not responding," said Officer Thompson, unable to get an answer from Biff. "I think he's three sheets to the wind."

"Is…is that Tannin?" wondered Officer Lee.

"More like his grandfather," replied Thompson, struggling to lift the nearly unconscious Biff. "Must run in the family. Biff's always like this by the end of the night, too."

"Take him down to the station, let him sleep it off?"

"Na, let's give the old coot a break. We'll take him over and drop him off on Tannen's porch. Let the family deal with it."

Lee shrugged in indifference, then helped her partner gather Tannen up from the sidewalk. They struggled him into the back of the cruiser then climbed into the front, waiting for a black, 4X4 Toyota to pass before they did a u-turn to head for the Tannen residence.

"It's been a long time since I drove this thing, Doc," said Marty, guiding the 4X4 through the streets of Hill Valley. "But I don't ever remember you asking me to borrow it."

"Of course you don't, Marty. That's because we come from a time-line in which I didn't borrow it. Eventually, as time settles, you will remember it."

Marty shook his head, saying "this is getting pretty wild, Doc. I mean, how come we were able to come back here to stop Biff? What about alternate time-lines, and all that?"

"I've discovered many things in the past year, Marty. Time isn't quite as fragile as I had first thought it to be. This point exists, how ever tenaciously, because it has to."

"Say that again, Doc," said Marty, casting a nervous glance in his rearview mirror to watch a police cruiser make a u-turn.

"This is the nexus to the altering of the time-line. Think about it. If I failed to build the time machine, then the events that led up to Biff discovering it never would have happened. Ergo, he wouldn't have been able to go back and change things. If he didn't go back, then I build the time machine, and he learns of it."

"Is this one of those time-warps you were always talking about, Doc?"

"Loop, Marty. Time loop. And yes, it is. This is the moment that we have to put back right."

"I hope you know what we're doing, Doc."

"Trust me, Marty. It'll be as simple as splitting an atom. We simply retrieve the pieces of the time machine from Biff's garage, and everything will be right back on track. Biff will be left with nothing more than a mystery."

"Biff!" screamed an aged, female voice. "Where ya going, Biff?"

"To the bar, Mom," yelled Biff as he slammed the side door of the house.

Tugging on his jacket, Biff turned towards the garage and froze, the bright wash of headlights suddenly filling the driveway. Turning around, shielding his eyes, Biff glared at the police cruiser that had pulled up beside the house.

"Now what?" he muttered, shuffling towards the cruiser.

"Hey, Biff," greeted Officer Thompson, as he got out of the car.

"What's up, Lou," said Biff, nodding. "Problem?"

"We got someone who belongs to you," said Thompson, stepping around to help Lee maneuver the "other" Biff out of the cruiser.

"Hey, if Lois had you bring Junior over here…" started Biff, thinking that his ex-wife had had her cousin, officer Thompson, bring his son over so that she could go out.

"Relax, Tannen," growled Thompson, kicking himself for trying to do a favor for a Tannen in the first place. "We found your grandfather down town, drunk as a skunk."

"Grand Pa?" wondered Biff, halting next to the front of the cruiser. "My Grand Pa's been…"

Holy Shit! thought Biff, a chill running through him as he saw the old man that the two officers pulled out of the rear of the cruiser. Though not quite as old as the last time he had seen him, Biff swore that it was the same man that had visited him thirty years ago.

"Thanks, Thompson," growled Biff, hurriedly, taking the old man from them and shuffling up the drive. "I'll take care of him."

"Try keeping him off the bottle while he's visiting," said Thompson, walking back around to the driver's side.

"Visiting?" asked Biff, looking back at the two officers.

"Or is he living with you now?" asked Thompson. Seeing Biff's puzzled look, he elaborated with "never saw him around here before. Figured he must be in town for a visit."

"Oh, yeah, right," threw out Biff, wishing the cops would just leave. "Don't worry, he probably won't be here for long."

As soon as the cruiser backed out of the drive, Biff made a bee-line for the garage, dragging the old man along as best he could. Supporting the old man with one hand, Biff lowered the tailgate on his truck with the other, then sat/laid the old man down there.

"Who are you, old man?" asked Biff, softly, staring at the guy.

Things were getting weirder than Biff would have ever thought possible. Ever since yesterday morning, when he had seen the flying DeLorean, Biff had been thinking of things that he hadn't thought of in over thirty years.

Thirty years ago, he had had no clue what it was he had seen, flying in the night sky, carrying away that Calvin Klein kid. The same kid that had stolen away his chance at having a rich life.

Then, this morning, while waiting for a train to clear the tracks, Biff had seen it again. Oh, it wasn't flying, and it was riding the rail instead of tires, but it was the same DeLorean alright.

And McFly had been driving it.

Biff wasn't sure why, but something about George's kid was bugging the hell out of him, and he was determined to find out what. If that DeLorean was indeed the same one from thirty years ago--from long before anyone had even thought the car up--then it could only mean one thing.

Time travel.

Even Biff's simple thought process had been able to put the pieces of that puzzle together--given all of the clues over the years.

The DeLorean was the key to it all, Biff was certain of that, and he was going to be damned if he'd let it slip through his fingers. He had spent the entire afternoon, and a good part of the evening, gathering up every last piece of the destroyed car, and he was confident that he'd be able to put it back together.

It might take a while, but he'd get it done.

"Not…not right," muttered the old man, snapping Biff out of his ponderings.

"You got that right, old man," quipped Biff. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm…I'm you," rasped the old man. "From the future."

"It works," beamed Biff, proud of something he had yet to do. "I did it. I get it put back together."

"They're here to stop you," said the old Biff, struggling to set up.

"They who?" asked young Biff, not helping his older self in the least.

"Doc Brown, and Marty McFly. They came back from the future to stop you," said old Biff, vanishing then reappearing.

"What the hell?" yelled Biff, nearly leaping back from the old man.

"Calm down," growled old Biff.

"You just…just…"

"Just told you what they're going to do," snapped old Biff, once again winking out of, and back into, existence.

"No, idiot," said young Biff. "You just disappeared!"

"I don't remember being this stupid," quipped old Biff. "What in the hell are you…"

Old Biff doubled over as his body was racked with pain, his face contorted in agony, and he again popped out and in of being. His grip on things was fading fast, and he could only hope that his past self would be able to set things right--right Tannen style.

"What the hell's going on?" demanded Biff. "What's happening to you?"

"You have…" he was gone. Then back, saying "…them. It's their…" gone. Then back, "…id this to me. To us."

Biff was thrown backwards out of the garage as his older self suddenly vanished in a brilliant flash of blue, three quick booms echoing loudly through the night air.

Rising up on an elbow, Biff gaped at the empty spot on his tailgate, where seconds ago he had been talking to his future self.

"The DeLorean!" cried Biff, realizing what his other self had been trying to tell him.

Scrambling up from the ground, Biff burst into the house and, ignoring the questioning yells of his mother, grabbed up the phone and punched in the number of his closest friend.

"Needles? This is Biff, get your dad for me. Now."

Steal my future will they? thought Biff as he waited for Match to come to the phone. Not again, damn it.

"Yeah," came a somewhat groggy voice.

"Match. Biff. Get the guys together, we've got some work to do."

"Damn it, Biff," grumbled Matt Etcher, still called "Match" by his high school buddies from thirty years past. "Jill gets pissed when you call me up this late for cards."

"This ain't about cards, butt head. This is about our future."

To Be Continued…